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Archive for July, 2008

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Which is better advertising, click-to-call or pay-per-click?

July 31st, 2008 | By Simon In Pay Per Click | No Comments »

Today, one of the most popular means of propagating online businesses is through pay per click advertising programs. There are many options for a pay per click advertising program like Google Adwords, Microsoft AdCenter and Yahoo Advertising.

When you sign up for any of these programs, what happens is that the advert you choose gets shown on search engine results page for the queries you specify. It is then the choice of the user whether to click through to reach your website for more information about your product or to make a purchase.

With a pay per click program, the advertiser may agree to pay $1 every time a person makes searches related to the product the advertiser n is selling, by using Google clicks on the advert. So each time a user makes a click, the advertiser has to pay a dollar for the traffic they manage to generate of people interested in their product.

This form of advertising proves to be disadvantages as it is very possible that all users who click to the site are in no way interested in buying any service click on the advert. This means that the advertiser has to pay money, for no benefit or use at all.

The second disadvantage of the pay per click advertising program is related to the website. If the website is poorly designed, then the money spent on advertising will be wasted. The third disadvantage is when the customer is not ready to buy on the first visit, and makes multiple visits before making a decision; the advertiser has to pay for all the visits the same user may make to the site.

A better means of advertising is the Click-to-call program. Here, when a user clicks on the advert, they are directly connected to the advertiser through phone. VOIP services like Skype and on mobile phone networks. The phone is diverted from the web into a voice call wherein an advert gets selected.

The benefit of this program is that the advertiser can answer queries from the buyer, and convert them into a better sale than the information available at a website. This program also eliminates the chance of a click fraud created by the pay per click program.

This is because all calls are connected so that the advertiser can take over the client’s attention and perhaps win over a customer that would otherwise be lost to a competitor. With all these benefits, your conversion rate is usually higher with a Click-to-call program, than with a Pay-per-click program.

With all this proven, I think that it is quite clear that I feel that click to call program is a better alternative over pay per click program.

Use viral marketing as a part of your internet marketing arsenal

July 28th, 2008 | By Simon In Traffic Generation, Viral Marketing | No Comments »

Viral marketing can be said to be the internet equivalent of word of mouth marketing existing in our day to day lives. Here instead of your mouth, you use emails to spread your message from one person to another.

You can use any strategy to make your announcement reach as many internet users as possible. Remember that the more visible is your message; the better is the chance of it being spread. As some strategies work better than others in viral marketing, I have compiled a list of strategies for you to adopt for an effective viral marketing program.

Offer something for free

The most powerful word to use in viral marketing is ‘free’ as this is a word that attracts maximum attention from internet users. What you have to do is to offer a few quality products or services for free for their viral marketing efforts. This means you could perhaps offer an internet user a free, downloadable e-book in exchange for recommending your site to his or her friend.

Be as creative as possible to succeed in viral marketing. Use your creativity in making a message that is as simple as possible while promoting better memory, transmission and pronunciation for the user. The shorter it is, the better is the possibility of a person remembering the message.

Develop technical solutions for efficient viral marketing

I feel that viral marketing is most effective when it is easily transmitted. You can use any method of transmission of the message like emails, logos, graphics or books for your viral marketing. I suggest that you work hard at multiplying technical solutions and support so that you get best efficiency in viral marketing.

Work at spreading your message wherever possible. I even suggest you using resources belonging to others. Like if you write articles for another publication or site, find out what appears on the site, which can contain your site address. You could also consider using an article distribution service for a better impact in your viral marketing campaign.

Develop better relations with your neighbors

Remember that with the help of viral marketing, you can develop relations with other internet users through emails, virtual communities, instant messaging systems and your sites. All you have to remember is to place your message in the right places, at the right time, and you have a better chance in spreading your message and expect a better impact for your site.

So why not start work at making your viral marketing campaign as contagious as possible…..

Tips for choosing the right affiliate program

July 26th, 2008 | By Simon In Affiliate Marketing, Building Your Business | No Comments »

There are many affiliate programs around today which you can join, for additional pocket money. An affiliate program is basically run by, and for the benefit of a third party. This third party lets its affiliates advertise their products and services on their sites, and in return, pays the affiliate a percentage of all their sales.

It proves to be difficult to choose the best affiliate programs; this is why I have compiled a list of tips to help you make the choice. Choose the affiliate program based on the commission it offers. Basically the program should pay you up to 40% in commission, depending on the rate of the specified program or service.

Choose two tier affiliate programs

In addition to this, the affiliate program should have a two tier program where you get a percentage of the profits earned from the other affiliates who have signed up under you, for the same affiliate program.

One point I suggest when choosing your affiliate program is to check the affiliate cookies. It is the cookie that provides the website owner information about surfers to the website. Each cookie has a length of time attached to it which you have to check before joining an affiliate program.

If you join an affiliate program that offers you a month’s cookie time, each new person who visits your website has to make a purchase within a month and no letter. This is the only way you will be able to earn a commission, which is very difficult to attain, even if you have a website with a great ad copy.

The longer the cookie time, the better is the affiliate program

So choose affiliate programs that will give you cookies for a minimum of three months. This will increase the possibility of your making a sale by a minimum of 40%. Another important aspect of an affiliate program is its customer care.

The website that you intend to promote should be ready to work to the maximum to ensure that you succeed in your affiliate program. This is the form of customer care I refer to here, where it should also offer you pre written solo ads, videos, emails, etc. IN other words, the affiliate program should provide you with everything you need to sell your product or service. Without this, you may say you are promoting the wrong affiliate program.

I really hope you find these tips helpful in choosing a profitable affiliate program. Of course, in addition to these tips, you will have to place your share of hard work to really make a profit with an affiliate program. So till we meet again……

Advantages of using Google Adsense on your website

July 23rd, 2008 | By Simon In Building Your Business, Google Adsense, Traffic Generation | No Comments »

Google Adsense is a great means of generating an income for your website. You earn for all the clicks visitors make on ad links placed in your website. The ads placed on the website are usually ads that have some relevance to the content of your website. There are many benefits with Google Adsense like:

•    Google Adsense is a simple and quick means of earning some residual income. All you have to do to avail this feature is to make an account in Adsense using Google. This is free of cost, and takes only a few minutes to complete. Once you have created a Google Adsense account while specifying the content and purpose of your website, specific audience and advertisers are targeted to visiting the site. Once you get suitable ads and clicks on the ads, you start receiving payments.

•    On using Google Adsense, I found it also to be a cheap technique of advertising products. This is because its advertising can reach millions of people who have access to the internet. I also found that Google Adsense can help at diverting the right flow of customers to your site so that revenue is increased here.

•    Being fed up of all the ads that appeared in my website, I found Google Adsense very helpful in controlling the influx of ads and content to my site. I could use it to block some ads that I did not like in my web pages and all competitor ads.

•    Google Adsense is a great marketing tool as it has a huge network of advertisers looking for investment in sites that suit their product and the service they provide. On joining Google Adsense, I thus had easy access to the advertisements I want for my site. This network of Google caters not only to the advertisers, but also to site owners.

•    The search box technology used in Google is great where more visitors are attracted to a site. Moreover, the ads placed on the site makes visitors stay longer on the site as there may be some related links on the site which will intrigue the visitor. This increases the chances of any customer clicking on ads placed on the site, and thus an increase in the income of the host.

•    To me, the payout system of Google Adsense is the greatest benefit of the program. This is because Google Adsense offers the highest percentage of payment to the publisher, than any other site. With the absence of checks and money orders, it offers an easy and reliable payment system. The mode of payment here is ETF where the money is paid directly into the host’s bank account. Just ensure that you give a legal mailing address and URL that is acceptable by Adsense to accept its payments.

I feel that all these advantages of Google Adsense make sense in joining the program……

Some more things to avoid when using Google Adsense

July 21st, 2008 | By Simon In Google Adsense | No Comments »

This is a continuation to the previous blog, where I have tried to explain some of the mistakes all you Google Adsense users have to avoid for successful implementation of your Google Adsense program.

It is important that you don’t place all your Google adsense ads in a location that will be seen by any other ad service that you may be using on your site. This is against the rules and regulations of Google Adsense.

It is not advisable to place ads on empty pages. When you update your site, you may place some Google ads on your header after creating a section on the site. This section of your site may be slotted to grow in popularity soon, and on placing an Adsense code on the page, it can only lead to the generation of ads that are not targeted correctly to your site at all. So I fervently advice you against placing any ads on any empty pages on your site. Place ads only after you have created sufficient content for the page.

Remember that Google sends out ‘bots’ as soon as possible on the placing of your Google Adsense code, which is usually within 30 minutes. And the next visit you can anticipate from the bots may not take place for another 3 weeks. This in turn will leave you with non paying ads for this period, though you may have managed to generate high traffic to your site in this time span.

It is quite natural to a website owner to think that the more ads that are placed on the site or blog, the better it is for the site. However on the contrary, it is not advisable to add more than 3 ad units on the blog or site. This is because they don’t show on your site, and eventually end up as a waste of your time and space.

I have learnt that there are some people who consider placing their Google Adsense codes in their newsletter. However it is basically not at all advisable to place the code in newsletters or to email your code as this is all against Google terms.

A very important point to remember when using Google Adsense on your site or blog is to ask questions whenever in doubt. I suggest that you never do anything you may be doubtful about as Google is always there to answer any questions and queries you may have about Google Adsense.

Remember these points if you have or intend to use Google Adsense in your blog or website. Pretty soon you will end up with more generated revenue with the help of Google Adsense than you had anticipated before.

Till you try out these tips to find out improvements in your Google Adsense program……

What not to do with Google Adsense

July 19th, 2008 | By Simon In Google Adsense | No Comments »

People who blog for an income usually use Google Adsense to generate money. However after visiting numerous blogs, I have found out that these blog users have to be taught not what to do, but what not to do with Google adsense.

This is because I have found out that the blogs that fail to follow the rules of Google Adsense tend to end up losing whatever earnings they had earned in the first place with the Google Adsense program.

This in turn proves to be very expensive to the people who had spent so much on time and money in developing their site, only to find that everything had gone in vain.

So in a bid to help future blog and site owners from committing the same mistakes, I have listed some of the most common mistakes to avoid when using Google Adsense.

•    A very important point to remember is not to use any contextual ads on your site, when using Google Adsense. This is a complete no-no in the rule books of Google Adsense.

•    You are not in any way permitted to make any changes, or to make modifications to the Google Adsense code that is allotted to you by Google. This code is specially allotted to you by Google, and has to be used as it is.

•    After adding Google Adsense to your site or blog, you are not allowed to instruct the visitors to your blog to click on your Google ads. This is because this is considered spam and proves to be very bad for you and your website.

•    You are not permitted to click on your own ads. And if you do click on them by mistake, you have to inform Google about it. Google always loves receiving feedback from their customers like you, and will really appreciate the information you give them.

•    Once you have Google Adsense on your website, you are not permitted to use any tools like traffic generators or other systems that you buy and use for making people visit your site. This is because this is considered to be false impressions by Google, and all the clicks that are thus generated are considered to be invalid by Google and search engines.

•    The consequence of this will be Google suspending your Adsense account and in extreme cases, even the removal of the funds that have accumulated in you Google Adsense account.

So looking at all the consequences of the wrong usage of Google Adsense in your website, make it a point to avoid all these mistakes so that you will be able to enjoy the revenue Google helps generate for you.

So till I give you some more mistakes to avoid…….

Link building: Tools to help with link building

July 17th, 2008 | By Simon In Building Your Business, Linking | No Comments »

It is important to work at increasing your link popularity. And to help you do this, there are many link building tools that will effectively help draw traffic to your website. This is why I suggest using these tools to get a top ranking in search engines.

These link building tools range from link building software to online services that build quality links for you. You can also use the help of article directories, link directories and search engines to improve your link popularity.

Search engine: To me, the first tool required for building links is to first find out which websites have a good page ranking. Linking with these sites will also give your site a good ranking; and you can find out the ranking of a website through a search engine.

Using the search engine, you learn about websites having good rankings; which you can add to your website. Then you have to send a link request to the webmasters and wait for their reply.

Content development: The search engine locates your site based on the content of your website. So by developing good content, with the right keywords related to your product or service, you get a better page ranking and thus more traffic generation to your site.

You can use the help of keywords searching software to find out the most popular keywords for your site. With these keywords, you can either write articles for your website, or have freelancers write for you. Users will thus link up to your page on finding relevant content in your website.

Link popularity software: The link popularity software helps find websites for you which will help you locate sites willing to have reciprocal link ventures with you. There is also an advanced version of this software that finds links for you, and then connects the links to your site automatically.

As this software can efficiently look for sites related to your website on the internet, it effectively helps in link building. In addition to this, this software finds out how much competition you have for reciprocal linking to your business.

Publish articles: There are many internet magazines and news journals for you to publish your articles in. in fact; I have found out that there are many sites looking for articles to publish. However if you publish your articles, I remind you not to forget mentioning the resource link below the article.

So as you can see, there are different types of link building tools available, with different features. Its price depends on its features and if you are interested in getting these tools, you just have to order it online or download it for free.

With these tools, I assure you of successful link building and increased traffic to your website.

Link exchange: Build up your online popularity with links

July 14th, 2008 | By Simon In Linking, List Building, Traffic Generation | No Comments »

Popularity is the key to success for any business; let it be an offline or online business. However when compared to offline businesses, I think that building up your popularity in an online business involves a complex procedure.

There is an effective tool for building your internet popularity, which is link building. This tool is effective in marking your presence on the internet, and can be said to be a give and take popularity building strategy.

Choose links with similar concept and product

With link exchange, you have to be ready to place the link of a website on your home page. Instead of randomly choosing a website, I suggest you choose a website of similar product, content or service as yours on your home page.

In return of your services, that website will also place your link on their website. So if anyone visits their website, they will see your link, and if interested, click on it to visit your website. this leads to an increase of traffic to your website, and this is how link exchange indirectly makes you popular in the internet.

For the best effects through link exchange, the content of your website should consist of keywords and have a description about the website. In fact, if you have an advertisement that is about 200 – 300 words long, it will be sufficient to click off your link exchange program.

Look for dictionaries to place your links

This advertisement should have informative and related information, using the right keywords. I suggest you use capital letters for your keywords as they bring more traffic t o your site.

Also ensure that the title of your website has a good description of the website. Write an effective description for the website, with the right use of keywords, while the URL you choose for the site should have your keyword included in it.

With all this done, you have to look for websites and dictionaries which are ready to exchange links with you. On submitting a link to a dictionary, the dictionary asks for a reciprocal link for placing its link, which is your URL.

Place links in the corresponding categories
Once you have completed the filling of the form of the dictionary, your link is placed in the dictionary. However I suggest that you make sure that you place your link in the right category of the dictionary. This is because there are many categories in link building dictionaries.

On placing the link properly, your link gets uploaded on the dictionary. And pretty soon, you find that your site will draw lots of traffic because of the free marketing a link exchange offers you and your website.

Tips to improve traffic to your website

July 13th, 2008 | By Simon In Pay Per Click, Traffic Generation | No Comments »

It is not required for you to spend too much for building traffic to your site. To some, this may be a very stressful job; however if you follow the tips I mention here, you will be able to effectively increase the traffic to your site.

•    Submitting great and related articles to article directories is a great means of building traffic to your site. However while you submit your articles to these directories, don’t forget to add the link to your site for visitors to click and visit your site.
•    Make it a point to post to blogs and forums that are of the same subject as your own site. However in the process, there should not be any spamming of the site to ensure that your link becomes an attraction to these blogs and forums.
•    I suggest you also create your own blog related to your website. Once the blog is created, you have to update it regularly, while providing a link to your site.
•    You can tickle potential clients by sending out press releases.
•    Link exchange is very efficient in building traffic to your website. However it is important that you choose your links well. Popular ones provide better and more links to your website.
•    The fastest way of promoting your site today is by joining social networks. This is because a single offer can lead to traffic from a group of members. This network continues amongst all the friend circles you have.
•    Choose a catchy and easy to remember domain name for your website. If it is difficult to remember, potential customers will find it difficult to remember your name when and if they want to visit your website.
•    Today, many people use pod casts to build traffic to their site. Even I suggest you turn to pod casting so that you can target clients when they are both offline and online.
•    Pay per click advertisement like Google Adsense helps bring visitors to your site, and thus increases the traffic to your site. In addition to building traffic, pay per click advertisements help in generating some income for you.
•    Use search engine optimization techniques in your website to get better search engine rankings. The higher is your page ranking, the higher is the possibility of people visiting your site.
•    Advertising is effective in making people aware of your website. I suggest that you use both offline and online advertisement to make your name popular in public. This in turn proves to be effective in drawing traffic to your website.
Now try implementing all or at least a few of these traffic building tips in the website of your business. Pretty soon, I guarantee that you will see an increase in the flow of traffic to your site, and with it, an increase in sales and your business.

Effective modern day lead generation

July 9th, 2008 | By Simon In Lead Generation | No Comments »

Lead generation is one of the more important methods of improving the growth of a company. In fact, I say that with the help of multi level marketing, it is possible to induce effective lead generation for any company and product.

So now you may want to know how these companies generate leads. Well, the main thing they use to generate leads is making use of their available resources like websites, emails and the use of surveys.

Phone surveys: Phone surveys are the most often used form of lead generation used by MLM (multi level marketing) companies. In fact, these MLM companies are practically ready to pay other companies just to make phone calls to probable customers, and to make these customers fill out these surveys. It is then up to these companies to provide the MLM with a list of leads they generate through the response they receive to the survey.

Websites: I am sure all of you know of the importance of a website in today’s world. In fact, without any website, no company can exist in the twenty-first century. This is because by a website, it is possible to generate leads to your company, on registering your website with different search engines.

One popular search engine for you to register in for lead generation is Google, as most computer users today use Google for their web searches. Besides this, you can induce lead generation to your site by providing useful information to sales reps and potential clients who want to find our more about your company through your website.

E-mails: Sending emails is an effective form of lead generation. Instead of just sending out emails, I feel that it is important that you carefully word and script all the emails that you send out to your potential customers.

This is because it is this wording that differentiates your email from the spam mail that many scam companies send you. And this is what will make your customers show interest in reading your email, and thus learning more about your company instead of just throwing your email in trash.

With all these new and revised means of lead generation MLM companies are those that benefit the most from this. This is because the latest technology has lead to an efficient and effective means of lead generation which will reach more people and potential customers.

This is indeed a much better form of lead generation than the methods that was employed before through word of mouth and the use of the telephone. Then it was required to have as many people and telephones to carry out surveys and for lead generation.

However today, all that is required is a single person, with a single computer from a MLM company to develop lead generation through millions of people.

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